Sawt Falasteen - World Cup could make football 'mainstream' in co-host Canada

Football, which most Canadians call soccer, is the country's most popular participatory sport, but by many measures the nation is still primarily captivated by ice hockey.

The 13 World Cup matches set for Toronto and Vancouver could help tip the scales, said James Johnson, CEO of Canadian Soccer Media & Entertainment, which works to promote the sport.

"There is a huge opportunity for a cultural shift in the sport in Canada," he told AFP.

More than a million of Canada's 41 million people are registered to play amateur football, but broadening support for the professional level is a priority.

Canada has three teams in MLS, North America's top professional league.

Toronto FC has won an MLS Cup and is considered the most stable Canadian club. The Montreal Impact have faced financial challenges and there are widespread reports the Vancouver Whitecaps may relocate, partly over profitability concerns.

- Growing potential -

A strong Canadian showing at the 2026 World Cup would undeniably help.

The men's side is ranked 30th but automatically qualified as a co-hosting nation.

In two previous World Cup appearances -- the 1986 finals in Mexico and the 2022 tournament in Qatar -- Canada played six and lost six.

But there is reason for optimism this year, with the roster set to include several players thriving in Europe, including Juventus striker Jonathan David. Injury concerns surround Bayern Munich fullback Alphonso Davies.

Jean-Francois Teotonio, a sports reporter at the prominent Quebec daily La Presse, wants to see the men's team "ignite the passion" for football and says they may have the players to do it.

"The potential of Team Canada is growing, money has been invested, a new pool of talent has emerged," he told AFP.

The enthusiasm that followed the women's national team winning Olympic gold in 2021 in Tokyo also showed how international success can captivate the Canadian public.

Costa Smyrniotis, executive vice president of the Canadian Premier League, Canada's top division, told AFP that all CPL clubs will be cheering on the national team and "raising the flag."

Canada is a nation of immigrants and, for decades, when the men's side was typically absent from the World Cup, fans would rally behind the country where they had family ties.

For Rocco Placentino, a former professional player and co-founder of the Montreal club FC Supra, that meant supporting Italy, which again failed to qualify after a stunning loss to Bosnia-Herzegovina, who open the tournament against Canada in Toronto on June 12.

Placentino told AFP that many of the different immigrant communities who call Canada home have "soccer in their blood, with a lot of passion and energy."

"Why not, for this World Cup, support multiple teams? The team for your country of origin and Team Canada?"

- 'Transformative effect' -

The Canadian government is pumping more money into football, including CAN$9.8 million ($7.1 million) towards a National Training Center to help foster emerging elite male and female talent.

Kevin Blue, Canada Soccer's CEO, applauded those investments and said "the World Cup needs to have a transformative effect" on the sport.

Johnson told AFP that all "the ingredients" were in place for football to vault into another level in Canada, but underlined that increased broadcast exposure was crucial, so it becomes "mainstream, like hockey."

A.AbuSaada--SF-PST